The Morning After: Sony looks beyond the PS4

Wii U audience not big enough for Need For Speed: Rivals devs

Ghost Games' upcoming racer Need for Speed: Rivals will not be released on the Wii U due to low platform sales, Creative Director Craig Sullivan claims in an interview with The Sixth Axis this week.

"[Rivals] is going onto new hardware, and you have to work out where you focus your efforts," Sullivan said. "The 200 people working on this game are only capable of making so much, and doing so many different versions of the game, so we had to go with where we think the biggest audience will be for the game, and that's where we are."

Need for Speed: Rivals runs on the Frostbite 3 engine, which lacks Wii U support. Battlefield series developer DICE attempted to get the engine up and running on the platform earlier this year, but abandoned its efforts after tests yielded "not too promising" results.

EA previously revealed that it had no games in development for Nintendo's console, citing poor sales of the launch games Madden NFL 13, FIFA Soccer 13 and Mass Effect 3: Special Edition. Sales for this year's Need for Speed: Most Wanted U also proved insufficient, due to the console's low install base.

"[Need for Speed: Most Wanted U] was a good game," Electronic Arts Labels President Frank Gibeau said. "It wasn't a schlocky port, we actually put extra effort into getting everything to work. And it's just not selling because there's no boxes."